The Project
by CaliTacui
Summary: Lucas and Maya get assigned a project about caring. Will they succeed together or kill each other in the process of work? Read to find out.


**HAIII IM BACKKK. I didn't want to be those writer who never ever update so ya know,,,, IM HEREE HAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

 **AND I HAVE PREPARED A GORG ONESHOT FOR YOU PERSONAS. TE AMO.**

 **ENJOY.**

* * *

" _Since_ we don't do much in this class," Cory subtly began. "You all are gonna work on projects. With partners." Cory smiled almost cheerily. Maya groaned, and banged her head on the desk. "Now now Maya, let Riley fill your head with positivity."

Riley smiled brightly and looked at her best friend. "Projects are wonderful! It's like a rainbow of creative work." Riley day-dreamily looked up in the distance with a high happy smile on her face.

"And this is supposed to drastically change me how...?" Maya arched an eyebrow up. Lucas chuckled.

"Tough. Even Riley cannot break you." Cory pouted, sighing. Maya smiled as he continued on.

"Anyway, yeah. We shall be doing projects. Working with projects... Working on projects..." Cory struggled to correct himself, but he shrugged it off again. "Anyway, I will be picking."

"Since everyday is almost predictable, where do you wanna work on the project, partner?" Riley asked as Maya looked to her friend.

"Wrong!" Cory shouted. "Today is not predictable. In fact, this week will not be predictable. It will be the opposite... Like..."

"Unpredictable...?" Lucas looked at his teacher with question.

"Exactly!" He cheered. "But anyway, I will be picking as said. But the partners will be in random, so don't count on anything."

"Not like we have to worry." Maya told Riley as they did their hand shake, hair flip and usual, "Stop it."

"First up, Farkle and Zay."

"Expected." Maya nodded.

"Darby and Ian."

"Okay. That's kinda weird." Riley laughed uncomfortable. "But go on..."

"Riley and Charlie." Maya's face dropped as Riley's face transitioned from smiley to stunned.

"Charlie and I?" Riley bit her lip in what felt like sadness, which was also seasoned with anger. "But what about my best friend?"

Charlie raised his eyebrows, feeling a bit insulted that Riley didn't want to work with him. "No offense to you, though." She said, sheepishly smiling. He nodded, but secretly felt like he had gotten slapped in the face by a cat's soft hand.

"Maya Hart with Lucas Friar."

Maya rolled her eyes as Lucas breathed out. She took his reaction as annoyance, but in reality, Lucas was pretty much satisfied with either partner. Plus, this was a good opportunity to get closer to his other good friend. He glanced at the back of her head; filled with blonde silky curls, and smiled.

"You separated us." Riley growled, squinting her eyes and almost making Farkle and Cory himself laugh. She couldn't be tough even if she wanted to.

"You'll live through it. Anyway, I want you all to do a project on what the meaning of caring is. You can write something, act it out, draw a picture, basically whatever you want."

Riley smiled, and Farkle smiled at her smile.

"Alright, that'll be all." Cory nodded as the bell rang.

* * *

 _After_ school, Maya got off the subway, and walked to her house. She unlocked the door, and lazily walked to her room, plopping down on her bed. After the actions, she took out her phone and texted her new project partner.

"Hey huckleberry, what time do you want to start?-Maya"

"Hey, shortstacks. How about in an hour? The due date is this Friday, and we are not gonna do this last minute.-Lucas"

Maya mentally rolled her eyes at the message, and replied, "Fine."

She looked at her reflection in the mirror her blonde curls flipped behind her shoulders. The girl breathed out as she turned away from it suddenly, adjusting her shirt as she grabbed her books, setting them on the table.

Lucas walked up to the girl's door, his heart skipping some beats as he knocked on the door. It's just Maya, why are you so nervous? The naive boy thought, recalling the audacious girl he's known and cared for. His thoughts pondered around his head so much, that he didn't notice that Maya had already opened the door.

"What's up ranger rick?" Maya teased, using the original nickname she picked for the boy.

"Nothing much, Clutterbucket." Lucas shot back humorously as he walked in. Maya rolled her eyes at the boy, holding back a smirk.

"Looks like you've stepped up your game Huckleberry. I'm actually impressed." She raised her brows, proud of her friend.

"I try." Lucas sardonically stated as he sat down at the table. Maya sat down also, taking a pen out and placing it in front of her.

"Okay.. So we have to think of what the true definition of caring is." Lucas looked down at the paper.

" _Why_." Maya groaned as she buried her face in her arm.

"If we never get this done, we will fail." He told his blonde haired friend in annoyance.

"Then how about you find out the meaning?" Maya asked with a hopeful smile pinned on her face.

"Maybe you're right." Lucas smiled back. He went on his phone and Maya patiently waited, intrigued by what he was doing. He showed her his phone, and it was the definition of caring, on Google. Maya sighed, knowing that he outsmarted her.

"You don't have to be a smartass." Maya insulted. "Let's just try to get this done."

"How?"

"Well as Mr. Matthews said-"

"As Mr. Matthews said." Maya mocked.

"We can act it out-"

" _We can act it out_!" She mocked again in a funny voice.

"Maya!"

" _HA-HURRR_!" She shouted her famous impression to what Lucas sounded like.

"Was that necessary?"

"Of course." She smiled, biting her lip in satisfaction.

The two worked, or actually attempted working on the project. Mostly, they had their bickering moments, and a lot of jokes, and they both learned quite a lot about each other. Eventually, Lucas began jotting stuff down on the paper, of what they think caring is. Maya mocked his writing of course, but Lucas was already used to her at this point.

Maya took a look at what Lucas was writing, and raised her brows.

"Wow Ranger Rick. And that's what you think caring is?" Maya asked in sarcastic amazement.

"Indeed, ma'am." Lucas smirked, playing his friends little game.

"So, would you begin caring if I called you mad dog?"

"Would you?" Lucas's face brightened up.

"No."

" _Maya_!"

" _Lucas_!" She scoffed, laughing at her friend. His face turned from humorous and playful to soft and overall serious.

"Oh, you called me Lucas." He commented, a small lingering smile kept on his face.

"I don't know why that happens sometimes." Maya cooed, shrugging.

"Well, I like when you call me by my normal name, or Ranger Rick." Lucas smiled at her, looking into her blue eyes. Maya had a smile on her face, and they both felt an unfamiliar tension in the air. Quickly, Maya sucked in a breath and snapped out of it, looking back down at her paper. "S-so, we got some ideas done. This is good!" She quickly ignored whatever that was, nodding quickly.

"Oh, y-yeah. That's great, so I'll come over tomorrow to continue then?" Lucas asked.

"Sure." Maya answered, confused at herself. He gave her a smile and a wave before walking out. She remained in her seat, a confused expression clouding her face and thoughts pondering around in her mind.

* * *

" _How_ are all your projects going?" Cory asked.

"Wonderful!" Riley said with pride and amazement. "Caring is like a rainbow." She cooed in her silly innocent voice. "It's bright and it's always there after a rainstorm." She smiled.

"Nice compassion Riley." Maya nodded, impressed with her best friend's English improvement.

"Thanks Maya." Riley thanked as she looked at everyone with her sparkling cheery eyes. "How are you doing with your project Maya?"

"Oh we're fine. We're probably gonna draw-"

"Act something out." Lucas argued.

"Draw."

"Act."

"Draw!"

"Guys!" Cory interrupted. "You can do both."

"We can?" They spoke in unison.

"I'll allow it. Just as long as it's at least 5 whole minutes."

"It could be 10." Maya corrected.

"Okay." Cory shrugged. "But try to make it shorter. There are others who are going too."

* * *

" _Bonjour_ Huckleberry!" Maya greeted as she turned her French playlist off.

"Since when do you listen to that?"

"Since, you barely know me." Maya raised her eyebrows in challenge.

"I do know you." Lucas said.

"Really?" Maya walked closer. "Really Huckleberry? What do you know?"

"I know that you're Riley's best friend, and that your mom and Shawn have something in common." Lucas began. But then he went deeper. "I know that you have such a passion for art. It's like an escape for you." He squinted his eyes curiously. "Right?"

Maya's heart was beating fast and she was biting the inside of her bottom lip. He had figured her out in a matter of a minute. "Right." She squeaked.

"That's what I thought." He said teasingly as he playfully bumped her shoulder, sending an electrical spark all around her body. Why was she reacting this way?

They both sat down again, and Maya brought a blank canvas, lying it on the table. "What're you going to draw?" S asked her as she looked at the blank canvas.

"I don't know. I don't know what the true meaning of caring is. I care about art, but I think Matthews is aiming for something deeper than that. Like really caring about someone." She looked down at her paper, pulling a strand of hair back. "Maybe even deeper than just a friend. I-if he's perceiving it that way." Lucas gulped at her explanation. He's never really cared for someone that way. He cares about Riley, but being in love with her? He didn't think of her that way. Truly. Lucas looked at Maya and her appearance. The way her blue eyes lit up as she glided her pencil across the paper. The way her blonde hair was perfectly curly and laid over her chest all casually, though Lucas just guessed he like casual.

Wait, what did he just say?

He liked casual. Therefore, would that mean he liked her?

Lucas swallowed the forming lump in his throat, but attempted at avoiding at looking to girl next to him. Her blue eyes looked up to meet his suddenly in a questioning serene matter, which quickly changed to a humorous expression. "What're you looking at, huckleberry?"

"Your face." Lucas mocked. Maya rolled her eyes with a smirk painted on, but he swore he almost saw a blush creep up on her cheeks as she looked back down.

"What do you think?" She asked as she shyly picked up the blank canvas, unsurely looking at her friend as she bit her lip. Lucas mouth went agape when his eyes met the drawing.

"That's... Beautiful." Lucas said as his eyes were distracted by it's beauty.

"You really think so?" Maya breathed out, her eyes softening and big.

"I do." Lucas looked from the painting to into the girls eyes. She smiled, and for the first time, it wasn't a smirk or a teasing little smile. It was a sensitive personal smile of her own. She was letting him in, and she barely knew it.

Things were changing... And Lucas didn't quite know how to feel about it.

* * *

 _The_ next day

Lucas and Maya walked into class late together as giggles and whispers traveled around the room. Riley looked at the kids weirdly, and then at them. Lucas had paint on his right arm and Maya had paint on her left. She looked back and recalled them painting side by side, making jokes and sneaking shy little glances.

"Lucas, Maya," Mr. Matthews began. "Where were you two?" Zay smirked at the two of them.

"Overslept." They both accidentally replied. Riley's eyes grew wide.

Maya rolled her eyes at her friends reaction. "Meaning, we were working on the project and we both fell asleep without setting an alarm." Maya corrected as she smoothed out her blonde curls.

"Exactly." Lucas yawned as they went over to sit down. Zay smirked at Lucas and Lucas hit his friend in the arm, a smirk playing on his face as he rolled his eyes too. There was a spark contained in it as Riley had a good two second look at it. She didn't know where it came from, but she might know who put it there.

Riley looked at all of these actions, and looked down at her desk. She noticed that something was evolving between the two friends.

And she was surprisingly liking that idea of them.

* * *

 _M_ aya yawned as she sat in the chair waiting for her friend to come over, looking down at her short pajama shorts. She smiled as she heard the doorbell ring, and walked over to let her friend in. She opened the door to reveal Lucas's smiling face and a pizza box in front of him.

Maya's eyes widened as he opened it to reveal a large pizza pie. "Oh my god... That looks amazing." She said, her eyes glued to the box.

"I figured, because this project takes time. Did you finish the painting?" Lucas asked her as they walked into the kitchen.

"I just have to some finishing touches on it, and then we can do the acting part." Maya nodded as they sat down with plates. "Are you finished with the script yet, ranger Rick?" Lucas smiled.

"Yeah, I did. Now you can help me revise it." He smirked. Maya groaned.

"Work." She huffed.

"At least we have pizza." Lucas took a bite, as did Maya.

"Pizza is better than school." Maya said before taking a bite.

"Can you get educated by pizza?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I could try, Huckleberry."

He shook his head, chuckling as he took out the script. "Here." He said, wiping his mouth. Maya took it, and began to read it. Lucas watched her, but his eyes began traveling down to her lips, noticing the small patch of tomato sauce. He wanted to say something; better yet, he wanted to kiss it away, but Lucas remained silent and patient. Maya's face transitioned from neutral to invested in a matter of a minute, thoroughly reading it. She almost looked... Sad, according to what Lucas saw. The corner of her pink lips went down, and her eyebrows lowered.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, and she quickly looked up at him, her eyes glossy. She nodded, trying to put on a smile.

"I'm fine, it's just." She tried holding her tears back, looking up at her ceiling. "It's good. I'm just thinking about my dad. He didn't care, really."

Lucas remained silent as a tear rolled down her cheek. Taking a breath, he pulled his friend to him, wrapping his arms around her as he embraced her softly. She hugged back, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I care."

* * *

 _The_ next day (Thursday)

"Alright guys, your projects are due tomorrow to present in front of the class. I really wanna hear what you believe it means. And I hope you guys have put something together, in a creative manner." Cory smiled.

"You'll be very proud dad." Riley grinned.

"I hope so Riley. How about you Maya?" Maya smiled at Lucas.

"I think you'll like it." Maya said. "Lucas actually isn't half bad." Riley looked at Maya in surprise.

"Wow, are we on first name basis?" The class laughed at Riley's corny joke. Maya blushed deeply.

"He'll always be a Huckleberry to me."

* * *

 _After_ school

"God I can't believe we're gonna have to present in front of people, again." Maya cooed, referring to the last time they presented together with the muffins. "Remember last time?"

"My mom would not stop talking about Texas." He rolled his eyes, his cheeks pink.

"Hey, she was pretty cool." Maya smirked, shrugging.

"For a mother, I guess." Lucas responded as they both looked at the script and the painting.

"We should probably practice." Maya said as Lucas nodded in agreement. The two picked up their scripts, and Maya began her line.

"I can't." She spoke, looking at her script and then up at Lucas.

"You can. You have the potential."

"You need to understand that I am not able to. Not since the last person I thought I could trust." She breathed. "They broke my ability."

"I care about you. Isn't that enough?" Lucas looked into the girl's eyes. She looked at him and opened her mouth, but closed it. She gulped nervously, and continued her lines.

"I-I don't want to get hurt." She stuttered as Lucas followed his scripts action, pulling the girl closer, holding her hand.

"You won't."

"You can't be so sure."

"I will, once you say it. Then I will know for sure. And I know you feel it too, about me." Lucas said, his voice barely a whisper. Maya looked back into his eyes, and finally said,

"I care about you too." Lucas smiled at her as they set down their scripts. Maya wasn't smiling, though. She realized that she seriously had more than just a crush on Lucas. Lucas looked back at her and realized that he had more than just a crush on her, too. He looked down at her lips just as she did the same, and they both took a breath before lunging at each other.

Lucas quickly wrapped an arm around the girls waist, gently picking her up as she wrapped her legs around his. He leaned her against the wall and kissed her lips passionately, each one stronger than the other. Her hands threaded his hair, and then clawed into his back. His hand swirled around her blonde curls as the other stayed at her cheek, cupping it with _care_.

The two were so in love, and they didn't care about what anyone thought.

* * *

 _Friday_.

"I will, once you say it. Then I will know for sure. And I know you feel it too, about me." Lucas told Maya as they were in character.

She smiled at him and said, "I care about you too." They finished the scene. The whole class clapped and Riley looked at the smiling friends. In that moment, she knew that something had changed within the two.

"And finally, for the last part of this project, a painting I made. Representing care." Maya grinned, showing everyone's we painting. It was a painting of a girl holding a huge heart, showing the things that represented necessity and what that girl loved. In one of the corners of the heart contained a boy.

"Maya," Cory spoke. "Who's that girl?"

"It could be anyone." She smiled shyly. And for the first time, Lucas took her hand in his, holding it softly. The class froze for a minute. Riley looked at the two, shocked. A minute later, the class clapped and Riley smiled at her in approval.

"It represents care because the girl is carrying everything she cares about. Everything that's in her heart." Maya said, looking at Lucas.

"Very good, Maya." Cory smiled at the couple. Riley smiled at Charlie, having a little secret of her own.

"Thank you Mr. Matthews." Lucas smiled. The two walked back to their seats, hand in hand.

"When did you guys get together?" Riley asked.

"Yesterday." Maya said, circling up and down Lucas's arm with her fingers.

"How?" Maya and Lucas's faces turned a bright red, looking down. "Ah." Riley nodded, smiling at the two. "I'm with Charlie now."

"What?!" Cory yelled as Riley bit her lip at her dad.

"I guess I kinda left that part out." She smiled sheepishly.

"So." Maya turned to Lucas again. "When do you wanna take me out on a date, ranger Rick?"

"How about tonight, blonde beauty?" Lucas smirked as Maya looked at him with sparky eyes.

"T-that's fine." She cooed as Lucas leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"I knew this ship was endgame." Zay spoke as the two looked back at him. "I called it since the moment I moved here."

Maya smirked. "Really?"

"Everyone knew." Farkle remarked. Riley looked back at and narrowed her eyes.

"You could've warned me, Minkus." She squinted her eyes.

"Sorry, Matthews." He smiled.

The bell rang, and they all got up.

"Come on Huckleberry, walk me to class." Maya said as Lucas smiled, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. He gave her a kiss before they walked out of class, happily and prepared to take on the world in a whole new way.

* * *

I hope you loooooooooved! - **A**


End file.
